US trying to create alternative govt in swathes of Syrian land – Lavrov on Afrin crisis

The US is working to create alternative government systems on Syrian territory which goes against its promises to respect the country’s territorial integrity, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Responding to a question posed by RT’s Caleb Maupin at Friday's briefing at UN Headquarters in New York, Lavrov commented on America's role in the crisis in northern Syria, which escalated into a new Turkish-Kurdish conflict after news of Washington’s plans to create a “border force” comprising of Kurds. Despite the US backtracking on its statement, and saying they were misunderstood, Ankara, which considers the Kurdish-dominated YPG force terrorists, said it was launching a military operation against the Syrian Kurdish enclave. Lavrov, however, said the developments were only a part of the pattern of US policy in Syria.

“It’s a fact that US forces are seriously involved in creating alternative government bodies on vast part of the Syrian territory. And this, of course, absolutely contradicts their own obligations, which they committed to on numerous occasions, including at the UN Security Council, on maintaining the sovereignty and the territorial integrity on Syria,” Lavrov said.